The present invention relates to cooking apparatus and more particularly to an apparatus for automatic basting of a roasting food item.
It is well known to baste various food items such as turkeys and roasts to prevent drying while the food item roasts in an oven. Manual methods of basting such as spooning drippings from a roasting pan over the food item or extracting and expelling drippings using a conventional manual baster requires the constant attention of a cook. Excessive time is often allowed to elapse before basting resulting in the accidentally drying of the food being roasted. It would therefore be desirable to provide a method and apparatus for basting food without requiring a the constant attention and intervention of a cook.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,913,965 to Gargano, (hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cGargano ""965xe2x80x9d) describes an automatic baster for a roasting pan that includes an elevated assembly for raising juices and gravy from the bottom of the roasting pan over a food item during roasting of the food item. Gargano ""965 describes a juice and gravy raising assembly consisting of a plurality of elongated curved flexible tubes that extend over meat. However, the Gargano ""965 apparatus relies on convection to raise juice and gravy up through the plurality of tubes that extend over the meat being roasted. The rate of circulation of juices is virtually uncontrollable so the Gargano ""965 apparatus is likely to over-baste or under-baste a roasting item in many instances.
Since only the low pressure of convection is applied inside of the circulation tubes of the Gargano ""965 apparatus, deposits of grease from juices and gravy can accumulate and block the tubes. It would therefore be desirable to provide an apparatus that and provides controllable circulation of juices and sufficient pressure to reduce grease accumulations in circulation channels.
Another drawback of the Gargano ""965 apparatus and other basting devices heretofore known is that addition of fluids and adjustments to the basting device require a user to open the oven door thereby releasing heat and moisture from the oven. In many instances, the a roasting pan becomes dry when the drippings and/or gravy evaporates before being replenished. A person must typically open the oven to check the level of fluid in the gravy or drippings (juices) in the roasting pan. The release of heat and moisture from an oven can be detrimental to the flavor and/or texture of the food item being roasted and can result in longer cooking times. Furthermore, opening the oven door is detrimental because opening or reaching into a hot oven increases the risk of burn injury. It is therefore be desirable to provide an automatic baster which allows monitoring of fluid level and adjustment of fluid flow rate without opening the oven.
The present invention provides a method and apparatus for automatically basting a roasting item in an oven. A pump apparatus disposed outside of the oven provides pressure to a system of tubes which collect pan drippings and gravy juices) from the bottom of a pan and dispense the drippings over a food item being roasted. A reservoir is provided in outside of the oven for addition of fluids to the roasting pan via the system of tubes. The reservoir is transparent for visually checking the fluid level without opening the oven. The pump apparatus is controllable manually or by an automatic timer for controlling the rate and timing of basting.
An illustrative embodiment of the invention provides an automatic baster including a collection conduit configured to collect juices from a roasting pan. The baster also includes a dispensing conduit configured to dispense juices onto a roasting item disposed in the roasting pan wherein the dispensing conduit includes at least one injector configured for injecting juices into the roasting item and at least one drip head configured for dispensing juices onto the exterior of the roasting item. The dispensing conduit also includes at least one flexible tubing branch adaptable to dispense fluids to a particular location on the roasting item.
The collection conduit is configured to provide a fluid flow path from the roasting pan to the dispensing conduit. The collection conduit includes a flexible tubing loop disposed adjacent to a bottom surface of the roasting pan and a plurality of intake ports for collecting juices from the bottom of the roasting pan.
A pump is disposed in fluid communication with the dispensing conduit and the collection conduit and provides pressure in the conduits causing the juices to flow from the collection conduit to the dispensing conduit. The pump is configurable for operation outside of an oven while the roasting pan is disposed in the oven.
A reservoir is disposed in fluid communication with the dispensing conduit and the collection conduit. The reservoir includes an orifice adapted to accept additional fluids to the baster and is configurable outside of an oven while the roasting pan is disposed in the oven.
In another illustrative embodiment of the invention an apparatus for automatically basting a roasting item includes a collection conduit configured as an outer loop disposed adjacent to the bottom of a roasting pan. The collection conduit includes at least one intake port adaptable for submersion in juice accumulating in the roasting pan.
A dispensing conduit is configured as an inner loop disposed adjacent to the bottom of a roasting pan and separated from the collection conduit by rigid spacers attached between the collection conduit and the dispensing conduit. In at least one illustrative embodiment, the apparatus includes a plurality of injection needles in communication with the dispensing conduit and adapted for injecting juices into a plurality of specific locations in a roasting item. At least one drip head can be provided in communication with the dispensing conduit and adapted for disposing juices onto specific locations of the roasting item.
Another illustrative embodiment of the invention includes an inflow conduit in communication with the dispensing conduit and providing a fluid pathway between a pump apparatus and the dispensing conduit and an outflow conduit in communication with the collection conduit. The illustrative embodiment also includes a fluid pathway between the pump apparatus and the collection conduit. The pump apparatus can be disposed outside of the oven while the dispensing conduit and the collecting conduit is disposed inside of the oven.
Another illustrative embodiment of the invention includes a pump apparatus having a reservoir in communication with the outflow conduit and the inflow conduit. The pump apparatus provides pressure to the reservoir which causes juices to be collected into the collection conduit and dispensed by the dispensing conduit. The pump apparatus can be adjusted for controlling the rate of fluid flow to the dispensing conduit. The reservoir includes an orifice disposed in a wall of the reservoir for addition of fluids to the apparatus and closable by a removable cover. It is desirable that the reservoir is made from a transparent material for viewing a fluid level therein.
Still another illustrative embodiment of the invention provides an automatic baster including pump means mountable outside of an oven. Conduit in communication with the pump means is adapted for circulating fluids from a bottom surface of a roasting pan disposed in the oven, to a selected locations of on or within a roasting item in the roasting pan in response to pressure applied by the pump means. A timer is provided with a control output connected to the pump means for controlling timing of the pump means.
The present invention overcomes the drawbacks of the prior art by providing a method and apparatus for basting food without requiring a the constant attention and intervention of a cook. The present invention features controllable circulation of juices and sufficient pressure to reduce grease accumulations in circulation channels. The present invention also provides an automatic baster which allows monitoring of fluid level and adjustment of fluid flow rate without opening the oven.